Health

Studies have revealed that not only are physical, mental, and social well-being important components for total health, but they are tightly interrelated. The evidence also shows that a happy, engaged, and fulfilling psychological and social life is not just a consequence of good health. It leads people to live a healthy and long life. Medical providers, patients and their families need positive medicine.

In 2019, Henry Edwards published The Daily Better: 365 Reasons for Optimism. I interviewed him on December 12 about why he wrote the book. I learned that he personally changed his world view to be more open and hopeful and that he hopes his book will help others do the same.

I was shocked when I read that US workplaces may be responsible for 120,000 excess deaths per year, making the workplace the 5th leading cause of death in the country. What’s going on? As a way of celebrating World Heart Day, let’s think about what we can do about it.

On November 11, 2018, I had the privilege of interviewing Ed Diener about well-being and public policy. Dr. Diener is a leading researcher on happiness, the correlates of well-being, and well-being measurement.

Wendy Toh was one of my favorite bosses. She did not assume that I could read her mind about what was important to her. Wendy taught me to have Big Rocks conversations as a way to negotiate priorities. Here’s how one of these discussions might go.

Trees can teach us to embrace change. They can also teach us that with change we needn’t discard aspects of our past. We can act in ways that allow people, feelings, and experiences to fill us up and contribute to life and development of well-being. We can do this without trying to hold onto them forever and without expecting them to be a certain way.

Continuing the report on the IPEN conference started on July 13, I invite you to learn about Angela Duckworth’s Character Lab Playbooks, about research on the behavior changes associated with meditation, and more.

We recently interviewed Dr. Elaine O’Brien for our PPND Webinar Series. She discussed Mind and Body: Experience Optimal Performance, Vibrancy and More Joy. Here is the webinar in case you missed it or want to see it again!

The practice of forgiveness has been found to improve health outcomes because it reduces physiological responses to stress. Forgiveness can serve as a powerful, self-administered salve. If one does not forgive, it is like handing the transgressor the skeleton key to the door of one’s life. Forgiveness might not prevent the pain of the past, but it can reduce suffering in the future.

On May 6-7, 2018, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) hosted a ground-breaking Summit on Happiness Science in Health Care: Infusing Positive Psychology into Medicine and Health Care. Participants all recognize the need to connect positive psychology and health care.

Therapist self-care represents a unique application of the principles of positive psychology. Self-care that supports and sustains clinicians’ well-being through positive evidence-based strategies has immense potential not only for the therapists’ wellness, but also for the benefit of those they serve.

In sports and other major league efforts, positive psychology can help all of us deal with an inescapable reality: Bad situations happen. Those that can rise above bad situations are able to perform not by getting rid of bad feelings, but by doing what they do in the presence of negative thoughts and feelings without letting them get in the way.

Interested in positive psychology? Join us for the 9th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP) and preconference meetings. The conference will take place in Budapest, Hungary, from June 26 through June 30. Luminaries in the field will explore the conference theme, “Positive psychology for a flourishing Europe in times of transition.”

If you or someone you know is going through any kind of major challenge during this holiday season you might want to read these five easy actions to help reduce holiday stress. Better yet, share this post with your friends and family and then figure out something simple that you can do together to make the holidays meaningful.

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